The following blog post was originally published in the 25x25 blog and was written by President of the American Council On Renewable Energy, Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn.

The Senate should be commended for overwhelmingly voting this week to eliminate harmful restrictions on the U.S. military's efforts to expand its use of biofuels. Two overwhelmingly bipartisan votes in the upper chamber now focuses attention on the House of Representatives, where some lawmakers are continuing to insist on language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prohibit the military – the nation’s biggest user of oil and gasoline ‑ from expanding its use of biofuels.

October 11 -- Daniel Rice takes taxis down long desert roads in Afghanistan’s combat zones to make sales calls. He travels at night, unarmed, and when he’s dropped at the gate of a U.S. military base, soldiers often call Rice crazy before whisking him inside. The former U.S. Army officer is there to sell commanders on something he wishes the military used eight years ago when he served in Iraq and lost friends in attacks on convoys: solar panels. Rice, co-founder of SunDial Capital Partners, tells the officers that his portable solar systems can reduce fuel consumption. “Why are soldiers still dying in fuel convoys when the military could significantly reduce its fuel at remote locations and at the same time save taxpayer dollars?” he asks. >>View Article

February 8 -- Sharon E. Burke, the assistant secretary of defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs, told industry partners and congressional leaders at the American Council on Renewable Energy's National Renewable Energy Policy Forum that the motivation for seeking out clean energy sources is strongly rooted in national security interests. >>View Article

February 1 -- Former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), President Obama’s nominee for Defense secretary, said Thursday that he will make the Pentagon’s efforts to boost energy efficiency and alternative fuels a major focus if he wins Senate confirmation. >>View Article

January 29 -- The U.S. Department of Defense is the largest single consumer of energy in the world, gobbling up 3.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity and 120 million barrels of oil per year. It’s an expensive habit, costing the agency some $20 billion a year. >>View Article

December 10 -- Lawmakers Tackling the National Defense Authorization Act are understandably focused on figuring out the dimensions of the president’s right to detain terrorism suspects and whether those suspects should be held in the mainland United States. But there’s another important issue that’s come under debate — the Defense Department’s investment in renewable-energy technologies. So far, the Pentagon’s biofuel efforts have survived two Senate challenges, which is good news for the Pentagon, the environment, and innovation. >>View Article

December 3 -- US Senate voted Wednesday to restore the Defense Department's ability to buy biofuels. As the largest petroleum user in the world, the US military says its dependence on oil is a national security threat. >>View Article

November 30 -- When it comes to reducing the military’s dependence on oil, senators from both sides of the aisle have the Department of Defense’s back. By striking down a pair of shortsighted amendments to the military’s annual spending bill, the Senate this week gave a green light to the DoD to pursue the biofuel initiatives senior military leaders say they want and need. >>View Article